Face Down
by steepe
Summary: What happens when your world begins to fall? What happens when the person you thought you trusted more than anything turns out to be someone who cant be trusted? And what happens when you find comfort in the person least likely to offer it? BNBL


Ok guys, so I wasn't going to start another story until I finished my other ones, but I couldnt' help it. This idea has been in my mind for a while now so here it goes. Please keep in mind that updates will be few and far between because of my other stories and college, but I really hope you like it as much as I do. There will be some storylines from the show, but most will come from my own imagination. So please R&R so I know if you guys like it or not.

**Chapter One : Downhill From Here**

_I only do this cause I love you. And you can make things easier. Didn't you hear me when I said not to do this anymore. I've had enough. It's got to stop. Or I will leave you and then we'll see if you could handle things yourself, without me here to scrape you up. This is the last time I'll warn you. Don't make me leave you all alone. It doesn't matter anyway. _

She stared at the black and blue mark now forming on her arm. Her body winced at the pain as her soft fingers gently rubbed against it. She knows he didn't mean to hurt her. They were messing around, like best friends always do, and he just got a little rough. It was her fault really. She went too far, and he didn't know his own strength. She backed away from the mirror, hiding the bruise with her sleeve. It would be gone in a few days, and no one would have to know.

Brooke was pulled out of her thoughts as her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and noticed her best friend's name.

"hello" she said softly

"hey babe" he said happily, acting as if their last encounter didn't happen "are you coming over?" he quickly asked, almost a little annoyed that she wasn't already over at his house.

"yeah I'll be there shortly" she almost whispered. He didn't even say good bye. Just hung up like it was his job to say when their phone call was over. But that is how it always has been. He was in charge of their relationship, and she never bothered to question it, afraid of what would happen. The truth was, Nathan Scott had a little bit of an anger problem, and Brooke never wanted to see that side of him.

She set the phone down as she checked over her bruised arm one more time, before heading out of her house to meet her best friend.

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She didn't even bother knocking. She had been allowed to enter that house without knocking since the age of 5. Brooke strolled up the stairs and plopped herself down on his blue and green comforter as he continued to play his video game. It wasn't until she let out a soft sigh that he turned around and noticed she was laying there.

"finally" he muttered in almost disgust as he quickly turned off the video game and joined her on the bed. He turned on his side and smiled at her.

"what?" she finally asked

"nothing" he smiled. "so what are we going to do today?" he asked, now laying on his back

"I don't care" she simply answered

The looks he gave her sent shivers down her spine. They weren't a couple, nor did either of them want to be. But Nathan saw Brooke as his. He could do whatever he wanted with her, and he knew she wouldn't say anything. The only problem however, is that of late, he had begun to get more physical, hence the new forming bruise on her arm. He liked being in control, and so she would let him do these things to her, afraid of what would happen if he got angry with her.

Brooke was pulled out of her thoughts as Dan and Deb began arguing downstairs. This was no unusual thing either. Brooke spent a numerous amount of time at the Scott house, listening to the two of them argue. Nathan just tried to pretend like nothing was happening. He rolled shut his eyes as the two of them listened to the newest scandal.

"I don't care if she's nice Deb, I don't think it's a good idea to become her new best friend" Dan huffed

"Don't you dare tell me who I can and cant be friends with" Deb retorted

"what do you think that's going to do to Nathan? Huh?" Nathan rolled his eyes at his father's _concern_.

There was a pause of silence, signaling Deb's thinking of what to say in return. "so just because Nathan might be affected with me hanging out with Karen, because of something _you_ did, I shouldn't befriend her." Deb shot back.

"Maybe we should go do something" Brooke insisted, knowing very well how Nathan got on the subject of his half brother Lucas.

Nathan rolled over a little to look at her, smiled, and nodded his head. He hated it when they fought, especially about him and Lucas. The two of them quickly got off the bed and headed downstairs, hoping to make an exit before they were caught. Success. They hopped into Brooke's pale green beetle and sped out of the drive way. As they drove, Nathan put a reassuring hand on Brooke's, squeezing ever so softly. She smiled at him as they continued to drive. It was then that he noticed the mark forming on her arm.

"babe what happened?" he asked with concern, gently rubbing his finger over it, causing Brooke to wince in pain.

"nothing" she quickly said

"that is definitely not nothing. Who did this to you?" he asked now out of anger

She looked at him sadly. "I just tripped over a pair of shoes and bumped into the dresser." she replied

"you always were clumsy" he smiled at her, still gently rubbing the bruise

"I know" she said softly. They were best friends, have been for years, and she knew that he would never hut her on purpose.

"Well I'm glad you're okay Snoopy" he smiled again, adding her once famous nickname. When they were younger, Brooke had fallen ill due to something she had eaten. She ended up missing a whole week of school. Anyways, Nathan had been by her side almost every day, hoping that she would get better soon so he could have someone to play with. The day before she got better however, Nathan went out and bought her a stuffed Snoopy. And ever since then, Brooke took that stuffed animal everywhere, hence the nickname.

"thank you" she smiled once again before they pulled into her drive way.

"parents home?" he asked as he made his way out of the car and up the stone covered drive way.

"nope. Out of town till Tuesday" she answered as she too made her way to the front door.

"sweet" he smiled in delight as he quickly made his way to the refrigerator, pulling out two beers. Even at the age of 16, Brooke and Nathan were used to the whole partying and drinking scene. In fact, they were actually kind of known for it at school. Since both of them dealt with pretty sucky home lives, the pair had turned to alcohol in hopes of filling the void. It didn't really work, but they still did it anyways.

Brooke caught her bottle as Nathan tossed it to her. She undid the top before smiling at Nathan as they both quickly raced to see who could drink it the fastest.

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Across town, Lucas sat with his best friend Haley in their booth at a small little café. Since Lucas' mom owned the place, Haley and him pretty much had free reign to do what they wanted. And as of this moment, the two of them shared a sandwich and soup for lunch.

"how's tutoring coming along?" Lucas asked as she took a sip of his Pepsi.

"good. Johnnie, the guy I've been tutoring, just got a B on his last history test, so that was a big deal"

"that's awesome"

She nodded her head in agreement as she took another bite of her sandwich. "how's basketball? The boys still picking on you?" she referred to the brief period where the team thought it would be funny to haze a junior. But that's what Lucas expected, especially with Nathan calling all the shots. Nathan and Lucas were brothers, but only in the sense that they shared the same father.

"better" he added as he took a bite of his sandwich "Whitey…run…tiring" was all Haley could make out of his last sentence as food cluttered his mouth. She smiled at his lack of table manners. "sorry" he said as he smiled and wiped his mouth. "I said Whitey has been making us run a lot of suicides so that's been pretty tiring."

"gotcha" she smiled as she took another sip of her drink. "so what do you have planned for tonight? Movie night?" she almost begged

He stared at her as she smiled wide, and finally laughed himself. "ok fine. There's really nothing else to do in this town since neither of us really hang out with any of the other kids that go to our school"

"very true" Haley added, already thinking about the movie she wanted to watch. The problem was trying to get Lucas to agree to the movie because she usually always picked chick flicks.

"there's this new movie out…what was the name of it." Lucas paused as he tried to think of the title. "oh yeah, Transformers. That's suppose to be pretty good" he added

She sighed, realizing she probably would not be watching a romance movie tonight. "fine" she agreed as she finished her sandwich.

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"so who's house is this party at?" Brooke asked as her and Nathan walked to her car. Since it was a Friday night, their usual plans consisted of going to whatever party was going on.

"not sure. Some sophomore trying to make a name for herself" Nathan added. He received the news of a party from the underclassmen on the basketball team. And since the whole school knew that Brooke Davis and Nathan Scott were the popular kids in school, in order to survive and make a name for themselves, people always invited them to the parties.

"so does that mean that there are going to be a lot of younger kids here" Brooke half-whined

"who cares B, it's a party" Nathan smiled as they climbed into the car.

"true" she added as they began to drive away. About an hour later they arrived at the house. They stepped out of the car and made their way up to the front door as people were leaving and entering from all directions. Loud music could be heard in the background as Tim, Nathan's friend, greeted them at the door.

"Nate dog, you're here" he called, holding a red plastic cup in his right hand.

"hey Tim" Nathan smiled as they walked past him and into the house. Nathan stopped to talk to Tim for a while as Brooke made her way toward one of the kegs. She poured herself a drink and then walked around, hoping to find some other people she knew. It didn't take her long to notice a familiar head of blonde curls.

"Peyt" she almost screamed. A tall blonde haired girl immediately turned around and noticed the brunette.

"Brooke" she smiled as well as she got up and walked toward her. They embraced as both of their glasses sloshed all over the place. The truth was, Brooke and Peyton used to be best friends. But then Peyton and Nathan began dating in 8th grade. When the relationship ended freshmen year, Brooke eventually took Nathan's side. The girls never lost contact with each other, but they never were as close as they used to be. "what are you doing here?" Peyton asked

"came with Nathan" Brooke stated as she pointed toward him in the center of the room

"oh" Peyton sighed taking another sip of her drink

"yeah but its whatever. He's with his friends, I'm here with you" Brooke smiled as the two girls began to walk away.

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"as much as I hate action movies" Haley began "that was actually pretty good" she smiled as the ending credits continued to roll on the tv screen.

"yeah it was" Lucas added as he got up to turn the lights back on.

"so what's next?" Haley asked

"what?"

"it's only 11 and it's Friday night. What else are we going to do?" she asked again

"do I always have to plan everything?" he asked a little annoyed

"I was just asking" she smiled

"well" he said as he rejoined her on the couch "we could go to the café, drink some hot chocolate, play a little mini golf" he suggested

She thought it over for a minute before finally agreeing.

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Nathan began to look around the room for Brooke as he spotted Peyton by one of the kegs. Thinking she may know where Brooke was, he made his way over.

"hey" she said coldly

"hey" she shot back

"so do you know where Brooke is?" he asked bluntly

"not sure. She was talking to this one guy before they headed off together" she replied

The anger began to swirl inside Nathan as he stormed away. He eventually made his way up the stairs and began to open every door. The last door he opened, he found Brooke and another guy making out on the bed, their shirts already removed from their bodies.

"out" he screamed at the boy. The boy, scared, gathered his clothes and ran out the room. Brooke put her shirt back on as she began to scowl at Nathan from the bed.

"you have no right" she began to yell. Nathan looked pissed as he turned, shut and locked the door behind him. He made his way over to the bed and sat down next to her. "get away from me" she slurred, the alcohol clearly evident in her breath. She began to move as Nathan pressed his hand upon hers, preventing her departure.

"Brooke you need to stop this foolishness" he began

"you do it"

"so"

"so I cant why?" she asked

"because I said so"

"you're not the boss of me" she yelled.

"yes I am" Nathan retorted. Brooke looked at him confused. "I can do anything I want to you and I know you wont say anything" He began to sit up, now towering over her. She began to get a little scared, knowing he had been drinking as well. This side of Nathan Scott usually only came out when their was jealousy and alcohol involved.

"Nathan leave me alone" Brooke scowled as she made an attempt to leave again. This time, Nathan's hands pressed hard on her shoulders, pushing her down upon the bed. He then proceeded in brining his hand across her face, causing it to sting with pain. She took her own hand against her face to stop the pain as tears began to stream across her face. "Nathan stop" she now cried. Seeing the hurt in his best friend's face, Nathan backed away and quickly headed out of the room. Brooke continued to sit there and cry. She hated this side of him, but she could never escape it either.

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"I do believe that is game" Lucas muttered as they finished the last hole. "time to tally the scores" he smiled

"do we really have to keep score?" she asked

"of course" he smiled "how else will we know that I am so much better than you at mini golf" he laughed as he pouted jokingly. They put down their gear and made their way back down to the café. They sat in their booth as they sipped on some hot chocolate.

"so how's your mom doing?" Haley asked between sips.

"good. The business is doing good. And actually, we just found out today that she got accepted to a cooking school in Italy." Haley shrieked in happiness.

"really?"

"yup" Lucas nodded his head "but she's not sure if she wants to go yet or not"

"why not?" Haley asked, but was not answered. Instead Lucas was staring out of the window at a girl walking down the street. "Lucas?" she asked again

"what?" he asked confused

"who are you looking at?"

"I think that is Brooke Davis" he answered

"so?" Haley asked confused. Wondering why he was even bothering talking about her. She never cared about them, why would they care about her.

"she seems upset or something"

"again I say so" Haley replied

"maybe I should go and see what's wrong" he stated before quickly exiting the café before Haley could make another smart comment.

"Brooke" he called as he ran toward her. She turned around startled, not really knowing who it could be. She was very shocked to see Lucas Scott standing there.

"hey Lucas" she said coldly. Truth was, they never talked. She was always with Nathan, and because Nathan and Lucas had a rough history, she was forced to never make friends with the _enemy. _

"are you alright?" he asked "I saw you walking by yourself and just wanted to make sure you were okay" he smiled

She smiled at his concern. It was nice knowing that someone noticed her pain and cared. "yeah I'm fine" she smiled, moving into the light produced by the street light. It was then that Lucas noticed the new forming bruise on her face.

"oh my god Brooke, what happened?" he asked with greater concern as he reached his hand up and began to caress her cheek. She winced at his touch before finally pulling away.

"oh that. Nothing. I'm just a little clumsy sometimes" she forced a smile upon her face. "I got to go" she added quickly before turning and leaving Lucas to stand there by himself.

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End file.
